River Tame murder.'Sadistic' gang sentenced

A gang plotted the torture a 22-year-old man who was murdered and his body dumped in the River Tame over a £15 debt.

Jason Hughes 28, of Hardman Street, Stockport and James Dellaway 24, of Hollywood Towers, each pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court Crown Square to the murder of Martin Hyde at an earlier hearing.

Yesterday,Hughes and Dellaway were each jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 25 years and 73 days in prison each.

Dellaway's girlfriend Lindsay Dunn 20, of Hollywood Towers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and has been sentenced to four years detention in a Young Offender's Institute.

Peter Mayne 18, of Hollywood Towers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and has been sentenced to 18 months detention in a Young Offender's Institute.

Martin's ex-girlfriend Chelsea Platt 18, of Furness Grove, Heaton Mersey, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to four years detention in a Young Offender's Institute.

On 30 November 2009, Mayne called police and claimed he had witnessed Martin being stabbed and thrown into a river.

Police started searching the area and his body was found the following day at Reddish Country Park near Mill Lane.

Officers investigating his murder discovered that Platt had lured Martin to her flat in Brecon Towers on 29 November knowing that Hughes and Dellaway were going to attack him over £15 believed to be owed by Martin to Lindsay Dunn.

Once inside the flat, Hughes and Dellaway subjected Martin to a severe beating, after which they forced Martin to mop up his own blood with a sponge, which was later disposed of by Platt.

They then put the sponge in Martin's mouth, hit him with a pan and cut him above the eye with a knife.

Martin's attackers then decided to take their victim to a secluded part of Reddish Vale Country Park. He had been told that he was going to die.

Dunn and Mayne were there and they both struck Martin.

Dellaway and Hughes continued to punch and kick Martin in the head and body.

Dellaway stabbed Martin in the back around six times before passing the knife to Hughes, who stabbed their defenceless victim to the neck.

One of the stab wounds severed Martin's spine making him unable to walk.

He was was then dragged around 300 yards by Dellaway and Hughes to the weir where he was thrown over a fence. He was found upstream the following day.

A post-mortem examination concluded he died as a result of multiple injuries.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Chadwick said: "This was a sadistic and inhumane attack on a vulnerable young man, during which a gang of people turned on their victim for no reason other than a small amount of money being owed. It was the most brutal and sustained attack I have witnessed in my career and visibly shocked my staff.

"Martin was completely unable to defend himself against a torrent of violence from Hughes and Dellaway, plus humiliation at the hands of people he knew.

"All of these people share responsibility for his death - irrespective of who actually inflicted the horrible injuries he sustained they all played a part and none gave a thought to trying to help him."